Asking God

Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other.
– Morgan Freeman “Evan Almighty”

I love movie quotes. I especially love the ones that come at the key moments of the movie where all hope seems lost. Every so often though, someone will come along and make a statement that transcends whatever movie we may be caught up in at the time, and speaks right to our lives. The quote above reinforced a lesson I learned a few years before I saw “Evan Almighty.” It was as though God used that moment in the scene to speak to me, which is ironic because Morgan Freeman was portraying God in this movie.

On a mission trip to Nicaragua a few years back, I led our group in a devotional that talked about being an encouragement to one another. My fervent prayer for myself and the group was that we could be a source of support and strength for one another as we tired physically, emotionally, and spiritually from the grueling hikes through the mountains and forests to carry the Gospel to the different villages in Northwest Nicaragua. That day was the hottest, longest, and most exhausting day of the whole trip. Many of us ran out of water. We were hungry. We were physically and emotionally spent from going up, down, and around the Andes Mountains that day.

I remember vividly complaining about how difficult the day had become when we sat in the house of a village pastor, unable to drink the water he offered because of what parasites and bacteria may be in it. As we continued our trek to the top of the mountain, I continued to grumble. It was when we stopped to take in the view at the mountain peak that God got my attention. His voice was so clear in my mind: “Remember your prayer? Time to put it into practice.” I had asked to be a source of strength and support for my fellow group members. All I had done was complained. I asked to be an encouragement to everyone around me. I was negative the whole time.

Too many times we pray for God to grant us something, never dreaming that God would actually put us in a situation to actually use what we prayed for. We pray to be able to love our family even when it’s tough and then are dumbfounded when a family member hurts us. I imagine God sitting back saying, “Hey, you wanted to love them regardless, now show it.”

God’s desire is that He be the source of all things for us. Paul implores us to make all requests made known to God (Philippians 4:6). But, we must know that whatever we ask God for, we may be put in a difficult position to use that request. Asking God for such things can be dangerous because you just might get what you asked for.